Articles

In the article “Violent Video Games Numb Children”, the author and the Health News editor, Alexandra Lupu, talks about the effects children have due to the exposure to violent video games. She not only proves that violent video games affect our children but also desensitize them to the outside world. Lupu explains the non-ending hours of playing video games do not result in desensitization to violence, but only 20 minutes of playing a violent video game is enough to the reduction of psychological responses, such as decrease in their heart rate and galvanic skin activity. The article mentions a study leader, Nicholas Carnagey, who describes the modern entertainment media as “an effective systematic violence desensitization tool”, which proves that the child’s exposure to media leads to desensitization to real- life violent events and to troubling emotional disorders. Lupus article proves that parents should be aware what their children do in their everyday activities and should limit their children in the amount of exposure to media.

The Hitman violent video game, where any aggression is possible.

ManHunt, another violent video game, which causes increase in desensitization.

Tom Brook, the author and BBC News Online’s Entertainment Correspondent, writes in his article “Is Hollywood to blame?” about the possible reasons the today’s entertainment use of violence in media is the reason for teen violence. Brook states the likelihood of the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999 could have been due to pop culture, together with Brook agrees many psychologist and religious and political leaders. Not only could the new violent film at the time The Matrix, where hundreds of people are killed just during a single movie or the popular Gothic singer Marilyn Manson, where his songs are about the darkness and hatred of the world or even the violent video game Doom, where players are encouraged to kill their opponents, be the inspiration for the Columbine Massacre, but also the reason, the reason to kill innocent people due to media violence. Sabrina Steger, a mother of the killed in Columbine Massacre, says ”I have no doubt that children today have become desensitized by the influence of media and video games”.